In the Middle
by DeAbstract
Summary: Let's meet in the middle . In the past . And in the future . Till I can return to the present .


**Hi everyone! I come from the grave! Lack of Resistance will probably never be updated again because I went and fucked up that last chapter with the most cliche thing imaginable. ANOTHER WOMAN LMFAO!**

 **I feel like I matured a bit as a writer (I haven't written a fiction story since Lack of Resistance until now actually)**

 **I hope you all enjoy this complicated tale. I'll see where my imagination takes me and hopefully it makes sense for all of us. Something a little bit more original than the standard fare sasuhina story.**

 **BTW follow me on tumblr, I draw a lil bit too now. I am now "DeAbstract" on tumblr. You can keep up with me there and ask questions about the story there, etc. etc. If you just want someone to talk to, I can handle that :')**

* * *

Gray clouds with bellies darkened rolled over her humble abode smoothly. She picked out shapes in the clouds and mused at how they twisted so slightly as to form something new. The movement wasn't obvious, yet it captured her attention. A quivering cough built behind her sternum and she released it quietly before resting her chin on her palm. Drops began to fall, sounding a soft _ping!_ Hinata cheered to herself quietly and started her knitting. A chill set in her small apartment and she flipped the switch on her kotatsu, flexing her toes and stretching her legs far out under the table until they vibrated from the pressure.

A few hours passed and Hinata realized she had been straining her eyes knitting in the dark. Pressing the knuckle of her index fingers into her eyes, she rubbed and yawned as a child would before stretching her arms far behind her. She rose from her place and regretted the action. Crossing her arms and rubbing her triceps quickly, she skipped over to the lamp in her living area and slipped her hand under the beige shade. Gripping onto a beaded gold cord she gave a sharp tug and with a _click_ a vibrant light flooded the room and went outwards, casting a more subdued glow on her kitchen and the front door.

Running a hand through her tangled indigo locks, she quickly shuffled over to the kotatsu before essentially throwing herself under it. A final tremble formed in her and released through her mouth with a rattle of her teeth. In her favorite season with the smell of cold in her freezing apartment, she fell asleep happily.

* * *

.

The sound of the rubber lining of her front door squeaking open and shut—as quietly as possible— jolted her from her sleep with a small gasp.

"I'm home."

His voice was crumbly and deep, seeped in fatigue. She thought she could hear the beginning of a cold as well.

She rose slightly onto her elbows and leaned her head onto her raised right shoulder. Curled bangs swept with the motion and created a messy allure. "Welcome back…" Her voice croaky from sleep.

"I woke you," She could hear him remove his shoes at the step. He inquired, yet sounded amused, not an ounce of apology hidden anywhere.

"Ahh…" Hinata rubbed her eyes with the side of her thumbs and rolled over onto her side, pulling the blanket of the kotatsu up to her chin.

"You've made some progress on your knitting," Sasuke acknowledged, sitting down adjacent to his tired girlfriend under the kotatsu. "When will I finally get to wear this?"

"Mmmhm mm…" Hinata hummed half-consciously, the noise meant to sound like an _'I don't know'_.

"That tired?"

"Sorry, uh…" Hinata twisted a bit, stretching the muscles around her spine as she stared at Sasuke through her bangs. "Are you hungry?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her behavior before snorting and smirking with a sharp twist of his head. She placed a hand on his knee and he softened. "Are you hungry?" She asked again. Sasuke refused to answer and brushed a hand through his fluffy, frizzy hair. A couple of beats of silence drummed through them before the handsome man cocked his head a bit and leaned in close to his sleepy love. She marveled at his pretty-boy face through half-lidded eyes and fought through the haze of sleep calling her. He leaned in closer, touching his long pointed nose to her cute angled one. She giggled and he smiled a bit, pushing his nose into hers again.

"Ne…Sasuke you're silly."

He chuckled a bit, a rare sight for anyone except Hinata.

"You look beautiful…"

"Oh really? I felt kind of bloated lately…" Hinata teased, making up like a girl who felt off about herself when rarely did Hinata give her appearance a second glance. She gave away her joke by laughing too quickly and Sasuke smiled. A small smile.

He laid next to her on his side facing her. His left arm supported his head and curved so that he could lightly play with her hair. She, in turn, rolled onto her left side to face him. From the proximity, she could feel the warm air leave his nostrils and gently roll over the bridge of her nose. Her chest surged in sudden affection and she buried herself in his chest, a few tears leaving her eyes. Sasuke brought her back up gently and placed his lips to hers, chaste and innocent. However, he took advantage of this and covered her face in kisses, smothering her from her hairline to her chin. Hinata basked in this rare display, mumbling how happy she was to see him.

"I missed you," he said quietly, his eyes ever so slightly moving as he took in her face.

"I'm here," Hinata reassured, burying her hands in his hair and playing with his slightly curled locks. With the utmost care, she ran a finger down his angled cheek and down his jawline. "I'm always here."

"But I am hungry."

* * *

.

.

It felt as if someone had dropped her in bed. On the rebound, her eyes flashed open and she inhaled quickly. The air bit the back of her throat, and she could feel the fast, muted thumping of her heart where the air attacked. The thumping was near painful so she sat up quickly and rubbed the area over her breast where her heart resided. She glanced to her left at the neat portion of their bed and felt tears prick at her eyes.

Pulling a throw blanket over her shoulders from a nearby chair, she padded gently from their bed. Their home was chill, and depressing. A small blanket of dust covered near everything once she exited their bedroom. A shaky sigh left her lips. With each small shuffle, her bobbed hair tickled the sides of her face. She never did get used to having short hair again, even though she sported it for much of her youth. She regretted taking a pair of scissors to her long hair as soon as she saw it waltz through the air into the trashcan awaiting it below. Sasuke would've said he didn't care about the length of her hair but she knew he favored her long hair considerably. Not that it mattered anymore.

Hinata gracefully lowered onto her knees and curled her small hands over her firm thighs. She stared ahead through her bangs tiredly. He stared back, calm and handsome, a touch of anger in his brows. She spoke to him quietly and he listened, attentive eyes calming her. A tear slipped past her defenses and she laughed pathetically at the futility of trying to hide her tears. She told him of her dream that scared her, she refused to call it a nightmare. In all earnest, she could swear she heard his rumbly chuckle at her clumsy means of talking. It was such an easy time when they were boyfriend and girlfriend instead of husband and wife with a child on the way. Not that she ever regretted marrying him or carrying his legacy. Her breasts were swollen and her stomach extended to a quarter of her thigh, firm to the touch. Hinata laughed and retold her memory of him being so excited to see her after his half a yearlong mission, showing more affection than she would ever have been capable of expecting from him. Then she thanked him for listening so attentively and bowed her head a bit in respect. She reached for the incense carrier and struck a match against its container. After the lighting, a calming scent wafted over her and she placed the stick in its holder beside his framed picture. She was grateful she made him take a picture before he passed.

"I wish you would respond," Hinata told him, berating herself for such foolish ideas internally.

Dead people can't talk back.

* * *

.

.

.

The standard, _'How've you been Hina-chan?'_ Warmed her heart honestly. She was never one to get annoyed by people simply seeking her best interest. If it were Sasuke however, she knew he'd have a temper over it. With her pregnancy she was constantly in the village, visiting mostly with her father or Sakura who was also pregnant. Everyone else was constantly in and out, running missions in the forever dynamic ninja world.

Her father would greet her with a firm hug, warm and understanding. Their relationship was better than it had ever been.

Sakura would sling an arm over Hinata's shoulders and yell for Naruto to cook them something, no matter what important Hokage issue he was attending to.

Eight months pregnant and the most emotionally rational she had ever been. His death had dried her up emotionally. After Neji's death, this was the finishing touch on the cake. Sakura suggested therapy and Hinata agreed. It wasn't good for the baby.

When she spoke to her father over pudding and tea about her interest in therapy sessions, she was surprised by his response. Slender raised eyebrows and an overwhelmingly supportive tone of voice.

"A simply wonderful idea."

"Hm," Hinata sounded, digging her spoon around her cup as a preoccupied child would. "It's good for the baby."

"It's good for _you_ ," Hiashi corrected soundly. He placed a hand on her slender wrist and rubbed his thumb against the small of her hand. "Seeing you this way hurts me, Hinata."

Her heart dropped. Father was so much more open since her marrying the Uchiha.

"You remind me of your mother," Her barely aging father chuckled to himself lowly, gazing away for a brief moment. "You are fitting to burst and glowing despite your depression."

"Mother was depressed?"

"Oh yes, her favorite dog died," Hiashi hummed to himself in thought, stroking his chin as he recollected the moment.

"A dog!"

"The most loyal beagle I'd ever witnessed."

"Father," Hinata giggled into her hand and placed the pudding cup onto the kotatsu dividing them. "You've never allowed Hanabi or me to raise a dog."

Hiashi crossed his arms and snorted. "I was fond of the dog as well. It's a pain to love things. You two would've felt the pain once the hypothetical dog passed."

Hinata studied her beautiful, porcelain father with a bemused smile. The smile tilted her cheeks up toward her eyes and created a sweetheart look. "That's very kind of you, Father."

He nodded and sipped his tea regally between his two forefingers.

The conversation passed amicably and an awful winter wind knocked Hinata's sliding screen door loose. The petite ninja gasped in surprise and glanced behind her. Goosebumps. It almost sounded as if he'd come home.

"An awful winter is coming," Hiashi declared with pressed brows and wisdom in his words. He rose from the kotatsu elegantly and opened the glass sliding door to firmly shut the screen door before Hinata could even budge.

She mentally thanked him as her ankles were frightfully swollen.

"Stay the night, Father. I won't sleep easy tonight if you left in this storm. It's quite a walk back to the compound."

He agreed to the idea and spent the night on the couch. Hinata resided awake half the night in the main bathroom, soaking her feet in a tub of warm water and Epsom salt, periodically rubbing her swollen ankles before sitting up straight and cursing the ache in her back. This was something she would've made Sasuke do.

* * *

.

A cold sweat gathered on her face and she shuffled up from bed with a groan. Barely opening her eyes, she washed her face in the sink and without drying herself, crossed her arms over the counter and buried her head.

Hinata believed in dreams. That they had a deeper meaning.

Her little boy kicked in her stomach and she bit back a sob.

She was running, she wasn't pregnant. Sasuke was sprinting toward her, hair whipping wildly, eyes urgent and telling. He was screaming out to her and she could only curse her slow legs and call out to him. Never in her life did she push herself physically as she did in that dream. In dreams previous, she failed to reach him across that wild, untamed field of tall grass and flowers. The trees seemed to stretch to the heavens, spreading a dark navy and black space over them. She threw herself into his arms and cried into him, breathing his scent, rejoicing at his living warmth, yelling for him to never leave again. He cried heavily into her hair and her hair seemed to grow till it touched the soft blades of grass below their bare feet. Hinata covered his charming face in kisses and he took her lips hungrily. They were starving.

 _"Come home! Come home! Come home!"_ Hinata cried, wrapping her arms around his neck, even if he had to bend over to accommodate her.

 _"I'm trying,"_ Sasuke pleaded. _"Wait for me. Go home. My home. Where I was raised."_

 _"What?"_ Hinata stared up into his murky eyes and felt like crying harder. _"Why? You're dead."_

 _"Idiot,"_ Sasuke smiled painfully and pressed his forehead to hers. _"Do as I say, love."_

 _"This is a dream…"_

He shook her shoulders once and hugged her tightly. _"Yes, it is. Now run to me."_

Sasuke no longer held her and was nowhere to be seen. Hinata simply was leaned forward, arms clutched in front of her. If she could pull out her hair in frustration she would, but her body was frozen. A dumb dream.

* * *

"Hinata, are you alright?" Hiashi leaned against the doorframe of the bathroom and yawned into his sleeve. His graying hairs nearly invisible in the humble yellow light of the bathroom.

Hinata rubbed her stomach pensively, a bit shocked from her father managing to walk in her room without her noticing. Not that he meant to be sneaky, she was just way rustier than she thought when it came to super alert ninja ways.

"I had an awful dream," she confessed.

"With my son-in-law?"

"Mhm."

Hiashi embraced her and tucked her into bed. After an hour long bedside conversation regarding the dream, Hinata's eyes fluttered shut and Hiashi fell asleep in the chair facing his daughter.

* * *

.

The doorknob jimmied side to side before giving way. Hinata stepped hesitantly into the main Uchiha house. Her hair was held back by a tiny ponytail and an elastic headband. Doe like eyes scanned the gray, deserted house, lost. If something were to describe how she felt…she felt like a fool, yup.

"What do you want me here for, Sasuke…"

Something told her to head to his old bedroom. She twiddled with her hands nervously as she paced through the creepy house. The floorboards groaned with each step despite her treading carefully. She peered in every room curiously until she stopped at the room that seemed the most child-like. The Uchiha crest was carved into the door and had a sloppy **S. Uchiha** scrawled in kiddish kanji.

The door opened without a peep surprisingly and Hinata mentally gushed at the décor. It was adorable and so not Sasuke. The colors on all the paintings and photographs in the room were faded tremendously. A thick coat of dust covered near everything save a black journal on the twin bed adjacent to the lone window. Light barely managed to worm its way through the tightly closed blinds. Hinata shivered at the slim book lying so out of place. After a few more moments of taking in the tight quarters, she stepped forward and took up the book. A lone overgrown bang fell in her line of sight and she hurriedly swept it behind her ear.

The pages were blank save for the tenth page. His vows were scribbled in neat, yet tiny. She brought the book closer to her face in order to read it better.

 _ **From now till forever**_

Hinata wiped the tears from her cheeks before they could fall and stain the page. He never did like till death do us part.

Using her thumb and the side of her index finger, she curled the rest of the pages and began to flip through them quickly. Bright red symbols caught her eye and froze her blood. With shaky hands, she flipped back to the frightening page.

What awaited wasn't so terrifying. It was puzzling.

 _ **I'm alive**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **I'm sorry**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **I'm not in this world**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **Look under this bed**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **I'll find you or you'll find me first**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **Let's meet in the middle**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **In the past**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **And in the future**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **Till I can return to the present**_

 _ **.**_

* * *

 **If you loved the movies A girl who leapt through time or Wolf Children, you're gonna like this fanfic that's all imma say. Review so I know wassup or if y'all aint feeling it and i'm not feeling it imma just leave this up discontinued and think of another story.**


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